June 14 - Awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to football.

June 17 - United announce they have accepted a £25million bid from Real Madrid for Beckham, who agrees personal terms.

2004: June 24 - Misses a penalty as England lose to Portugal in a shoot-out in the Euro 2004 quarter-finals in Lisbon.

2005: Captains England for 50th time in friendly against Argentina in Geneva.

2006: July 2 - Stands down as England captain.

August 11 - Dropped from squad for friendly against Greece, Steve McClaren's first match as manager.

2007: January 11 - Beckham announces he will leave Real Madrid and join Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy on a five-year contract in August.

January 13 - Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello says Beckham will never play for the club again.

May 26 - McClaren hands Beckham a shock England recall for matches against Brazil and Estonia.

June - Wins the Primera Liga title with Madrid, having won back his place in the team.

August 16 - Beckham scores his first goal for Galaxy on his full debut in the SuperLiga semi-final meeting with DC United with a trademark free-kick.

2008: March 26 - Wins 100th cap in the friendly against France.

October 30 - Milan announce Beckham will join them on loan on January 7, 2009.

2009: January 11 - Makes shock first start for Milan in 2-2 Serie A draw at Roma.

March 9 - AC Milan announce that under a unique "timeshare" agreement, Beckham will stay with them in Italy until the end of the season, return to the Galaxy from July to October and then rejoin the Serie A club for the rest of the 2009-10 campaign.

March 28 - Comes on as a half-time substitute against Slovakia at Wembley to win his 109th cap and break Bobby Moore's record for an outfield player.

July 20, 27 - Twice confronts fans who gave him a hostile reception in his first home games after returning to the Galaxy.

2010: March 14 - Tears his Achilles tendon in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo - an injury that rules him out of the World Cup.

June - Part of England's backroom staff for World Cup campaign which ends in second-round defeat to Germany.

August 11 - England career appears to be at an end when Capello says: "Probably he is a little bit old."

2011: November 20 - Wins the MLS Cup as the Galaxy beat Houston Dynamo 1-0 in the final.

December 31 - Five-year deal at the Galaxy expires.

2012: January 19 - Re-signs with the Galaxy.

June 28 - Announces he has not been included in Team GB's squad for the Olympic Games.

November 16 - Football Federation Australia claim a representative of Beckham approaches them with a view to the midfielder making a short-term move to the A-League in the MLS off-season. A Beckham spokesman says his client has "absolutely no plans to play in Australia".

November 20 - Confirms he is to leave the Galaxy after MLS Cup on December 1.